The Dutch authorities are offering a reward of 20,000 euros to anyone likely to provide information to advance the investigation into the spectacular Tefaf Maastricht robbery in June 2022. Four years after the events, five suspects, four men aged 41 to 50 and a 41-year-old woman, all Serbian nationals, were included on the European list of most wanted criminals, distributed with the support of Europol.
Investigators suspect a certain Ninoslava Jovic of having played a logistical role in the operation. The four men are considered dangerous and potentially armed. Their possible presence in Serbia complicates the investigations, the legislation of this country obstructing the extradition of its nationals. The publication of their portraits on the European platform aims to collect new testimonies and facilitate their location. Since the creation of this list in 2016, 167 of the 479 fugitives whose profiles were released have been arrested, including 54 directly thanks to information collected through it, according to Europol.
On June 28, 2022, several individuals dressed in suits, ties and berets burst onto the stand of the London jeweler Symbolic & Chase. Armed with sledgehammers, they broke the windows and stole around ten pieces of jewelry, including a necklace by jeweler Joël Arthur Rosenthal (JAR) adorned with a 114-carat yellow diamond. Witnesses also reported the presence of firearms. The criminals fled on electric scooters before joining a vehicle. The total damage was estimated at at least 35 million euros. This robbery, committed at the opening of the fair, had raised questions about the security measures of the event.
Video capture showing the thieves during the breakage of the windows of the jeweler Symbolic and Chase, on June 28 at Tefaf 2022.
© Twitter / Henrik Willem Hofs
The investigation, led by the Limburg police with the assistance of Europol and Eurojust, nevertheless made it possible to find part of the loot. In 2024, two diamonds from a 179-carat 18-stone necklace, created by Theodoros Savopoulos, were located in Israel and Hong Kong. A third diamond likely to come from the same theft was found in Botswana in early 2026.
Tefaf had already been confronted with several jewelry thefts. In 2008, a diamond necklace weighing more than 72 carats, estimated at 1.2 million euros, was stolen from the stand of the London jeweler Hancocks. Two years later, the same exhibitor was the victim of the theft of a sapphire ring and a diamond pendant, with a combined value of 860,000 euros. Investigations carried out based on messages exchanged on Sky ECC encrypted messaging also revealed that another theft would have been prepared for the March 2020 edition, with the alleged participation of at least one of the suspects from the 2022 heist.
